Mat weaving



Dec. 16, 1958 D. c. MARQUEZ MAT WEAVING Filed Jan. 11, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l :51, 1E. 01 a Q saws 5 5 2/ 20 i/ ;7 l0 C; /4

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Dec. 16, 1958 D. c. MARQUEZ MAT WEAVING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 11, 1954 ZNVE'NT 0R DANNY C. AMRQUEZ ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 16, 1958 MAT WEAVJING Danny C. Marquez, Portland, Greg. Application .lianuary 11, 1954, Serial No. 403,109

It Claim. (GI. 35-15) This invention relates to the art of Weaving, and has particular reference to the weaving of fiat strips of material into mats of predetermined designs.

In the present day educational system, various forms of artcrafts are taught in the primary schools. Some of the artcrafts are reduced to the simplest forms and operations appropriate to the younuger age groups. The art of weaving, for example, especially the weaving of basket form mats, is appropriate for the very young age groups but is seldom appealing to older children, partly for the reason that the finished product is usually of a very simple and unattractive pattern. After a rather brief experience with simple basket weave patterns, the average child finds the art uninteresting and monotonous. However, the Weaving of more elaborate patterns which would be attractive and useful is too laborious and painstaking by conventional methods. it is generally considered beyond the capability of children to follow the complicated instructions involved in making the more attractive patterns. The value of Weaving to teach color discrimination and harmony, and to teach manual dexterity, makes it de sirable to devise improved techniques for weaving the more intricate designs that would appeal to a wider range of age groups.

Objects of the present invention are, therefore, to provide improved methods and apparatus and improved weaving materials which will enable children and other relatively unskilled persons to weave more elaborate and artistic designs and to make mats and other useful articles in a simple and easy manner.

Another object is to provide novel weaving apparatus and materials which may be used with very brief and simple instructions to fill the requirements of an extended age group.

Another object is to provide novel weaving materials and apparatus containing coded intelligence which can easily be translated into predetermined designs.

Additional objects are to provide coded intelligence on weaving materials in such a manner that the markings conveying the intelligence will be incorporated inconspicuously into the finished product, and to provide weaving apparatus containing coded intelligence for use with materials where it is desired that markings not be incorporated into the finished article.

Still another object is to provide weaving apparatus and materials of the type described which may be made from a variety of inexpensive and readily obtainable materials wherein the complete equipment, including apparatus and materials, may be fabricated at relatively low cost.

The invention deals with the weaving of flat colored strips of suitable opaque or transparent material such as paper, plastic film, etc. The weaving material is preferably manufactured and furnished in the form of two slitted sheets having lines of perforations intersecting the ends of the slits a short distance from the ends of the sheets whereby marginal portions of the sheets may be readily torn 06 to sever the connection betweenv the strips for weaving purposes. The necessary intelligence for forming a predetermined pattern may be contained upon one of the sheets of strips which goes into the Woven product, or it may be contained upon an auxiliary sheet or other device which is used in conjunction with the weaving materials but does not become incorporated in the woven product. The general principles of the invention may be applied in a variety of ways with slightly different weaving techniques to accomplish the general objects of the invention. The weaving may be facilitated by a special loom for holding the weaving materials and by the use of a novel shuttle device for threading detached strips through the slits of a sheet of weaving material. v

The invention will be better understood and the foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent as the details of the invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating certain preferred embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the invention may take other forms, and that all such modifications within the terms of the appended claim are included in the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view of a slitted sheet of material forming a first set of weaving strips;

Figure 2 is a view of a second slitted sheet of material forming a second set of weaving strips containing the necessary intelligence for producing a predetermined pattern when used in conjunction with the material of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the weaving materials of Figures 1 and 2 in use with a novel loom which forms a part of the invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 3 but showing a different arrangement of the weaving materials in the loom;

Figure 6 is a view of a modification wherein the intelligence used for forming a predetermined pattern is not incorporated into the finished product;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the shuttle illustrated in Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a view of another modification combining certain features illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the weaving materials used in the first embodiment of the invention. In Figure 1, the sheet A contains a plurality of parallel slits 9 forming the strips 10, the slits terminating short of the ends of the sheet to leave the strips integrally connected together in the marginal or end portions 11 and 12. A line of perforations 13 intersects one end of the slits whereby the marginal portion 11 may be torn off to separate the strips at that end of the sheet. The free ends of strips 1% resulting from the tearing off of end portion 11 are designated by the numeral ltla in Figures 3and 4.

' in Figure 2 the sheet B is similarly siitted at 14 to form strips 15 which are connected together at the marginal portions 16 and 17 of the sheet. Lines of perforation 18 and 19 intersect the ends of the slits at the respective ends of the sheet whereby only the marginal portion 16 maybe torn off to separate the strips at only one end, or both marginal strips 16 and 17 may be torn off to separate .thestrips at both ends. The line 21 is a matching line v. hich is printed on the sheet to separate the printed strip members 21 from the intelligence 22. The in telligence 22 comprises suitable indicia, such as printed dots or the like.

The materials of F gures 1 and 2 are used with the loom C, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The loo-m C may be made ofcardboard or other suitable material having the necessary stiffness to form a holder for convenient manipulation of the weaving materials in the manner to be described. The loom has a base or back board equipped at one edge or end, which is to be positioned toward the operator, with a strip 24 forming a pocket 25 to receive the marginal portion 12 of sheet A. The end of the loom away from the operator is equipped with a fiap 30 mounted on a suitable hinge 31 to swing through an arc as indicated by broken lines in Figure 4. The dimensions of the loom are such that when the marginal portion 12 of sheet A is inserted in the pocket 25, and the marginal portion 11 is torn off, the free ends a of strips 10 may be disposed under the flap 30. Flap 30 is equipped with transparent fingers or clips 32 for holding an individual strip on the top thereof as shown. The loom is somewhat wider than the sheet A, and preferably slightly wider than the length of strips 15.

A weaving operation using the weaving materials A and B illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and the loo-m C illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 is started by tearing off the marginal portion 11 of sheet A, placing the marginal portion 12 in the pocket of the loom, and placing the free ends ltlcg of the strips 10 under the flap 30, as described. Then the marginal portions 16 and 17 are torn off thesheet B toscparate the strips 15. The first strip 15 is placed under the clips 32 with the matching line 20 aligned with the left edge of the sheet A. This first strip 15 is observed to have six marks 22 thereon. ends 10a of those strips 10 which underlie the marks 22 are then lifted from unedr the flap and placed on top of the first strip 15 until each mark 22 is thus covered by one of the strips 10.- In the intervalswhere there are no marks 22 on the strip 15 the strips 10 are allowed to remain under the flap 30. The first strip 15 is then moved down betwen the underlying and overlying strips It to the lower end of the sheet A.

Flap 30 is then raised to place the overlying strips 10 under the flap and the second strip 15 is placed under the finger 32 with the matching line 20 aligned with the left edge of sheet A. It will be observed that the marks 22 on the second strip 15 are in different positions from the marks on the first strip, and so the proper strip 10 are then lifted to cover the marks 22 on the new strip 15. When this has been accomplished the second strip 15 is moved downwardly against the first strip 15 and all the strips 10 overlying the fiap 30 are again positioned under the flap as before. The foregoing operations are repeated for each of the strips 15 in turn until they have all been interwoven with the strips 19 to complete a mat according to the predetermined design established by the rela- I tive positions of the marks 22 on the sheet B. Figure 3 illustrates an intermediate step after four of the strips 15 have been woven and the strips 10 are being removed from under the flap 30 to be placed on top of the marks 22 of the fifth strip 15. The marks 22 are thereby all covered the strips disposed under the flap 30. The numbers 2 iare not needed. The sheet A is prepared by not only tearing off the top marginal portion 11 on the perforatedline 13, but also using a scissors to sever the bottom marginal portion 12 at the lower ends of the slits 9-to detach all the strips 10 from the sheet A and from each other. A strip 10 is then placed under the fingers 32 on the flap 3%, but it will be observed that the strip 10 has no marks 22 thereon. In this casethe strips 15 to be lifted out from under the-flap 30 are those not having marks 22 di The free- In this ar-- posed on an imaginary line 34 at the bottom of the sheet B. The strips 15 having mark 22 on the line 34 are allowed to remain under flap 39. After the first strip 10 is moved down to the bottom of sheet B, the imaginary line 34 assumes a position at a higher level through the marks 22 which are immediately above the last woven strip 10, as will be apparent in Figure 5. Thus the marks 22 are all covered by the strips 10.

When it is not desired to have the marks 22 incorporated in the finished mat, as would be the case in weaving W'th transparent materials, the indicia may be provided on a separate sheet D as shown in Figure 6. In such case the weaving materials comprise two sheets similar to the sheet A in Figure 1, one of which need not be provided with the line of perforations 13 and the other being provided with lines of perforations at both ends of the slits 9. Thus, the first sheet is designated A wherein the line of perforations 13 in Figure l which is not used is not shown in Figure 6. The second set of strips which are to be interwoven with the strips 10 of sheet A are designated by the numeral 10. The strips 10 are woven through the strips 10 with a shuttle E, the details of which are shown in Figure 7.

The shuttle E comprises a narrow piece of relatively stiff material having two leaves 40 folded over to form a pocket 41 open at one side and end to receive one of the strips 10. The other end of the shuttle is pointed at 42 to facilitate its insertion over and under the strips 10.

The guide sheet D in Figure 6 comprises a rectangular piece of paper or cardboard ruled with horizontal and vertical lines having the same spacing as the width of strips 10 and 10. squares to contain the marks 22 which determine the weaving pattern. A column of numbers 45 is provided along one edge of the sheet and separated from the ruled squares by the matching line 46, as shown.

To weave a mat as shown in Figure 6, the guide sheet D is first placed under the sheet of material A with only the first horizontal line of marks 22 appearing above the top edge of sheet A. Then the shuttle E with a strip 10 therein is inserted over each strip 10 which is aligned with a blank square appearing on the sheet D and under each strip 10 aligned with a square bearing a mark 22'. After the shuttle has been inserted through the entire width of sheet A, the projecting right end of strip 10' is held in position with one hand and the left end of the shuttle is drawn to the left, removing the shuttle, leaving the strip 10 in woven position to be pushed down to the bottom of the sheet A. The same process is repeated with each strip, Figure 6 illustrating the position of the sheet D and shuttle E for the insertion of the third strip 10 to form the same pattern shown in Figures 3 and 5.

In Figure 6, it will be observed that the weaving materials which are consumed in making a mat do not require any printing, the part having the printing being usable over and over to make any number of mats. There is also the corollary advantage that the weaving materials, after having been purchased with a particular pattern in mind, may

beused for making an entirely different pattern since identical weaving materials are used in this case for all patterns. I

This advantage may be obtained in Figure 3 by inserting one of the blank strips 10 of Figure 6 under the fingers '32 of the loom along with each printed indicia strip 15. Then, after the designated strips 10 have been withdrawn from under the flap 30 and placed on top of the marks 22, the printed strip 15 is removed and the blank'strip 10 alone is moved down to its proper woven position. The finished mat then comprises the two sets' These lines form a checkerboard of sheet B of printed strips quite similar to the sheet B in Figure 2. The strips 15 of the sheet B, however, are left connected with the sheet at both ends, and the only printing thereon comprises the marks 22. The strips are woven with the shuttle E, passing the shuttle over the marks 22 and under the strips having no marks in the position to be occupied by the particular strip 10. As shown in Figure 8, for example, three strips 10 have already been woven, and so the imaginary line 45 indicates the line of marks 22 which are to be considered in weaving the next strip 10'. Thus, the fourth strip 10 would be inserted from the right over the first two strips 15, under the next two strips 15, over the next two strips 15, etc., to cover all the marks 22 in the line 45. After the fourth strip 10 was thus woven into the sheet B, the fifth strip would be woven according to the intelligence contained on the imaginary line 46, and so on.

A characteristic feature of all the embodiments in which the intelligence is Woven into the finished mat is that the markings are all covered and concealed by the interwoven strips, any exposed mark indicating an error in the Weaving. Such arrangements have the advantage of easily revealing the error to the child Without requiring careful scrutiny of the symmetry of the pattern.

The necessary intelligence to produce a predetermined pattern may be incorporated into the weaving materials or into the apparatus to be used therewith in still other ways, but the present examples of intelligence means will serve to illustrate the most practical forms of the invention and enable others skilled in the art to utilize the principles thereof. With the aid of such intelligence very artistic and intricate patterns may be woven as easily as the simplest pattern.

Having now described my invention and in what manner the same may be used, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A pair of sheets of material having parallel slits defining strips of weaving material, indicia distributed along the strips of one of said sheets at predetermined intervals corresponding to the width of the strips of the other sheet to designate over and under passes of said strips of the other sheet for weaving a predetermined pattern, said slits in said one sheet terminating at a distance from the ends of the sheet, lines of perforations extending across said one sheet perpendicular to said slits and intersecting the ends thereof for detaching the unslitted end portions of said one sheet, and numbers on the strips of said one sheet inside one of said lines of perforations to designate the order in which said strips are to be used in weaving the slits in said other sheet also terminating at a distance from the ends of the sheet, and a line of perforations extending across said other sheet perpendicular to the slits and intersecting the ends thereof for detaching one unslitted end portion of the sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 532,110 Stockmann Jan. 8, 1895 736,448 Seegmiller Aug. 18, 1903 1,081,169 Terashima Dec, 9, 1913 1,112,799 Hough Oct. 6, 1914 1,329,850 Pye Feb. 3, 1920 1,578,536 Lloyd Mar. 30, 1926 2,186,692 Boyer et al. Jan. 9, 1940 2,199,515 Woods May 7, 1940 2,704,878 Green Mar. 29, 1955 

